Thursday, December 01, 2005

The next day we wanted to head north, to the MatisseMuseum.But first we had to break away from Naruto, the anime that Alison really enjoyed, it was moderately addicting, but the gods pulled us away by making her computer screw up and not be able o play the 6th episode, so we left.Heading, again, out of the main downtown and up into the foothills of the surrounding mountains.We saw beautiful architecture on nearly every building, huge hanging vines, beautiful trees and scenery.Lucky for us, French is not that difficult to understand, as long as it is in writing, and we followed the signs for the Museum all the way to a park.On the way to the park we found a set of ruins and an old (I suspect Victorian style) Hotel call the Regina, where we found out later Matisse liked to hang out.The ruins I have no idea about, but they were cool and I saw some kids using the holes in the walls of this amphitheatre as soccer goals, how funny.This park was probably the most amazing park I have ever seen.The park had little streets just like any park, but unlike a park in the states, it was really populated, there were kids playing a game of soccer among the trees, people walking dogs or lovers, kids playing, parents talking and laughing, old people on benches and playing games.The most significant part of the park was the trees; trees with knotted roots that seemed to grow just under the surface, breaking through like fingers in the dirt.The trunks were like a half dozen individual think pieces of rope coming right out of the roots and twisting around each other, sometimes leaving spaces in between, but just as they met they burst into hundreds of smaller branches with white-silver leaves.They were unlike any trees I’d ever seen.They were everywhere, and it looked like an orchard because they were at regular intervals all over the park.In the middle was a huge red building with yellow trim and greenish shutters; this was the MatisseMuseum. It was 2€50 each, and we wandered around inside for over an hour.It was really interesting to see pictures of him and his work, see things from his home, from which he probably drew inspiration or sat on while trying to think or relax.It was really cool.

After the museum we explored the park and found that all the streets were named for American Jazz musicians!(Ex: Dizzy Gillespie & Miles Davis were two of the avenue names and there were statues of Louis Armstrong and Lionel Hampton sitting in the park)We saw some old men playing botchee (sp) ball a game where you throw a little ball and try to get your bigger heavier balls to land nearby; it’s kind of like shuffle board, but with balls not sliders.After a long visit in the park (even stopping to watch some really young kids playing 500 with a soccer ball for a while we decided it was time to head home.We made the long walk around through the poorer section of Nice and all the way back through the centre of town stopping at a place to have crepes before dinner (Andy had Chocolate and I had Framboise) and then got back to Alison’s just in time for dinner with everyone (we ate at home every night after putting €40 in the Communal € Jar).After dinner we started drinking and headed out to the Tré Diablo but after a while there Alison couldn’t get back in, so we headed to Wayne’s (an American-ish Bar/Club) where we danced the night away on some benches and tables till it closed.

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About

If you are a potential employer and you're Googling me I suggest links regarding Scouting Magazine and Mackinac Island.
This is my personal blog, I use this space it to keep a journal of my doings worth remembering. I often write about Tech, Communication, Travel, the idea being someday to come back and reminisce. In today's world of instant nostalgia I can create some actual nostalgia.
Looking for my Europe Trip? Go to 2005-2006 in the Archives below.